A view of Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on March 17, 2020. The hospital is part of the Steward Health Care system. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre was on vacation two weeks ago when his company revealed that it planned to close two hospitals in Massachusetts, but he didn't have a hand in the decision or any say in the timing of the announcement, a spokesperson for the embattled executive said Thursday.
Steward announced July 26 that it did not receive any bids that could be approved in bankruptcy court for Carney Hospital in Dorchester or Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, and that the hospitals would close at the end of August, sooner than state rules generally allow. Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory reported Wednesday night that de la Torre was in France — and specifically at the Olympic dressage events being held at the opulent Palace of Versailles — as Steward filed the court papers to make the hospital closures official.
A spokesperson for de la Torre told the News Service on Thursday that while the CEO was on vacation with his family at the time, he also was not involved in the closure decisions and announcement. Though he is CEO of Steward, de la Torre is not part of the company's "transformation committee" that has, according to court documents, "the sole and exclusive authority" to make decisions about hospital sales or closures through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court process.
"According to the terms of the bankruptcy, Dr. de la Torre does not have the authority to make decisions regarding sales or closures in the bankruptcy process, including the announcement that the bids for Carney and Nashoba were not acceptable and that the hospitals may be forced to close. In fact, this announcement was made in the course of the bankruptcy court proceedings, resulting at least in part from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' refusal to offer its support to the debtors regarding the bids that were in fact received. These facts are clear in the court transcript," the de la Torre spokesperson said in response to a question about the CEO's trip to the Olympics. "Because of his lack of authority around that decision, and the fact that he was not aware of the specific date it was going to be decided or announced, he was regrettably on a family vacation that was planned and paid for last year."
The spokesperson added, "Despite what the press continues to say, Dr. de la Torre has been focused on managing the situation, and to the extent that the bankruptcy proceedings allow him to, keeping hospitals open and patients fully cared for."
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The statement from de la Torre's personal spokesperson provides even more confirmation that there were bids — though not viable ones — for Carney and Nashoba Valley and suggests that Massachusetts state government could have done something to make them viable. Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said on the day that Steward announced the facilities would be closing that the bids for Nashoba and Carney were not "deemed acceptable to Steward or their creditors."
Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough, whose constituents use Nashoba Valley Medical Center, told the News Service on Thursday that "credible sources" in union, municipal and health care circles have told him "there are legitimate bidders for Nashoba Valley but the message they keep getting is the administration is not truly interested in having these hospitals remain open, which I think is a complete outrage."
Eldridge said he was "pleading" for Gov. Maura Healey to send the public message that the state is interested in bidders for Nashoba Valley and interested in "bridge funding to keep these hospitals open while potential negotiations could happen."
Patient volume has been declining at the Carney and Nashoba Valley Medical Center since Steward filed for bankruptcy in early May, as people have sought care at non-Steward hospitals. In June, an average of 13 of Carney's 83 medical beds were filled and Nashoba had an average of 11 out of 46 beds filled, Healey administration officials have said.
The senator contacted the News Service after reading an SHNS article in which Healey emphasized her focus on "saving five community hospitals" and ensuring that the state provide resources to displaced patients and workers if Carney and Nashoba Valley close.
Steward is planning to lay off 753 workers at Carney and 490 at Nashoba on Aug. 31, according to state filings the company made last week pursuant to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
A bankruptcy court judge is expected to hold a hearing Tuesday related to the pending sales of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton, and Holy Family Hospital with campuses in Methuen and Haverhill.
A lawyer for Steward said in court this week that "significant progress has been made in terms of both the commercial terms and the purchase agreements with respect to the sale of the hospital real property and operations to the bidders for the Massachusetts hospitals, each of which are high-quality local operators."
Michael P. Norton contributed reporting.
